


Longevity

by invalidprophet



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Magic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Rogue and Sting were punched in the face by the sheer beauty of one another, They love each other so much help, Valentine's Day, no beta we die like men, unnecessary amount of italics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invalidprophet/pseuds/invalidprophet
Summary: His eyes raked his face, flushing when he realized that Rogue could see the engagement ring that he was grasping. He grimaced, and swiped a hand down his face."You... weren't supposed to find that," he whispered, voice barely carrying throughout the room. Rogue grunted, "I didn't even realize that it fell out of my pocket...""Did I ruin the surprise?""No, it was my fault. I was careless and it fell."
Relationships: Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23
Collections: FTLGBTales Fairy Hearts 2020





	Longevity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oryu404](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oryu404/gifts).



> Happy Valentine's Day oryu404/DivineBurrito!! I was your giftee for the Fairy Hearts Gift Exchange! You wanted some sweet stingue content, so I hope that I delivered! I'd like to apologize ahead of time; I'm not use to writing fluff and I rarely write as it is, so it may be kinda cringey lol.
> 
> Also, the beginning is bad, I'm sorry! I'm bad at starting fics but I swear it gets better towards the end!!
> 
> Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

* * *

**lon·gev·i·ty**

_noun_

  1. long life.



* * *

Rogue is a minimalist; he’d rather spend the evening in his apartment wearing pajamas, watching horror movies with a table filled with take-out from various restaurants or just junk food in general. With Frosch slumbering on top of his lap, and Sting running his fingers through his raven hair, that sounded like the perfect night in his ears.

Which is exactly why tonight had to be - no, _would be_ \- perfect. Sting would move a mountain to make this day memorable for his love; which, _he won’t admit to Rogue,_ but he planned tonight days in advance.

While the two of them weren’t able to do some of the “minimalistic” things that Rogue normally enjoys - if they had to sit and watch a horror movie, then he’d surely have a heart attack - tonight will still be enjoyable.

It is Valentine's Day, after all.

Sting arrived at the raven’s apartment early in the evening carrying bags filled to the brim with _umai bou,_ , _konpeitou,_ _taiyaki_ , among other things. He also brought a bottle of sake, unsure whether the two of them will drink any tonight but it’s fine if they don’t; Sting isn’t a big alcohol person, after all. Rogue opens the door after three knocks and Sting immediately jumps into his arms, after placing all the snacks on his coffee table.

“Happy V-Day, hun!! I missed you,” he exclaimed.

With his arms wrapped around Rogue’s neck and his face buried in his chest, Sting couldn’t see the expression on his boyfriend’s face, but he could only imagine the flat look he was giving him because of the nickname. Sting grinned widely, and lifted the raven in the air and twirled him around, causing Rogue to gasp loudly and clasp his shoulders in an effort to not fall backwards. After twirling around a couple times, Sting breathlessly put Rogue back on solid ground and looked into his eyes - well, _eye,_ because obviously he just HAS to cover the one with his hair fringe.

_Damn_ , did Rogue have the most beautiful eyes Sting has ever seen. Pure ruby, and if you looked close enough in the sunlight you could even see specks of gold. Sting’s heart twinged, _he’s just so stunning_. He thinks he’s fallen in love all over again just from looking at him.

Blushing, Rogue reached his head behind his head and rubbed his neck. “Happy Valentine’s Day to you too,” he murmured, before adding, “Please don’t call me ‘hun’ anymore…”

Sting stood up on his toes in an effort to stand at the same height as him, achieving his goal. Leaning in, he placed a quick kiss on Rogue’s cheek and smirked broadly.

“Only if you give me my gift now, _hun!_ ”

Rogue rolled his eyes fondly, and wandered out of the room. Curious, the blond was tempted to follow him but Rogue returned within seconds with a bouquet of green orchids. “Sorry, I know this isn’t a lot but I have something else I’d like to give you later,” he apologised, lips tilted upwards slightly. Carefully grasping the flowers in his hand, Sting lifted them up and smelled them. Amused at his boyfriends shyness, he chuckled.

“There’s no need to apologize,” Sting assured. “I love these so much! Now, how about you hand me something to place these flowers in and then we can sit our asses down and watch some movies!”

* * *

After bickering for half an hour on what to watch, they decided to watch some anime that they’d both be interested in - something about a guy with a bunch of false body parts traveling ancient Japan fighting demons with a small child - but Rogue isn’t paying attention; not towards the television, anyway. Sting had his head placed carelessly in his lap, humming as Rogue curled his hands throughout his thick, untamed locks.

His eyes were glued to the television, however, Rogue’s were immersed on Sting’s shining face.

Bright, blue eyes stared in wonder at the screen, and whenever the protagonist slayed a demon and regained a body part, he grinned like he just won the lottery. Fondness bloomed in his chest, and unconsciously, the hand that wasn’t weaving through Sting’s hair moved towards his pocket, grasping the small, velvety box buried inside.

_Tonight… Tonight would change everything._ For better, or for worse…

Frankly, Rogue should have absolutely no reason to feel as sick to the stomach as he does at the moment. Obviously Sting would say yes - hell, if anything, Rogue is surprised his boyfriend _hasn’t_ proposed yet; he basically already attached himself to his hip, they are never away from each other more than a day or two. But even then, Sting makes sure that he calls the raven every couple of hours to see what he’s up to.

All-in-all, Rogue has made it his personal goal to ask Sting for his hand in marriage before he even has the chance to.

But this doesn’t mean that the thought of getting down on one knee and saying some sappy shit like _“Will you be by my side forever?”_ doesn’t make normally reserved man sick to his stomach. Rogue isn’t the type of person to make the first move, in fact he’s proud of himself for buying the ring in the first place - no matter how jittery it made him.

_How will he propose though_ , he thought anxiously.

Undoubtedly, he absolutely does _NOT_ want to propose when the two of them are just sitting on the couch, eating junk food and watching anime. He doesn’t want this moment to be ruined by the fact that they aren’t even wearing normal clothing; Sting is shirtless, wearing nothing but blue flannel pajama pants and Rogue is in black sweatpants and a red sweater. If anything, Rogue was debating on holding off on the proposal until their next date night, which was next week.

_Yeah, he can wait a couple more days_ , he reasoned.

A couple more days of living in separate apartments.

A couple more days of sending photos of their cats, Frosch and Lector, wearing cute outfits back and forth.

A couple more days of being _just_ boyfriends.

_Just a couple more days…_

Rogue sighed softly, hoping that Sting didn’t hear him. Of course he wasn’t that lucky, Sting’s head immediately snapped up to look at him. “Babe,” he said worriedly. “What’s up? Is something wrong?”

Rogue blushed madly. _Damn… he’s so adorable when he’s worried about him._

“No, nothing is wrong. I just have to get up for a second.”

“You sure you’re alright? You’re kinda sweating, are you getting sick?” Rogue shook his head - why is his boyfriend so good at reading his emotions?

“Nah, just feeling a little hot because of my sweater. I’m going to change into a T-shirt instead.”

Sting blinked at him for a few seconds before ultimately deciding that Rogue was telling the truth. “Alright, but hurry up! Jukai and Hyakkimaru’s past is about to be explained!”

Rogue patted Sting’s head affectionately, standing up and stretching, arm pulled behind his head for a brief second. As he exited the room, he neither noticed Sting’s tracing his every move, nor did he feel the small weight in his pocket fall out and hit the couch cushions.

* * *

When Rogue up and left the room to go get changed out of the sweater, Sting decided it was about time that he paused the show and to go get some sake for the two of them to share. Just a little bit though, he didn’t feel like getting buzzed tonight. As the blond lifted his head up from the cushions, he felt something thump next to him. He glanced down with a curious gaze - did Rogue accidently drop his phone or something? - and he froze.

_No way…_

Sting’s eyes must be playing tricks on him. There’s absolutely no way that this can be real.

Gently, he placed the small box into the palm of his hand and opened it. The anime they were watching, and the snacks they were eating were immediately forgotten.

The only thing that he cared about was the engagement ring placed gingerly in the velvet box.

_Oh…_ _Oh god…_

The ring matched was a radiant gold that matched perfectly with his hair. It looked expensive, _how did Rogue afford this?_ The price of the ring should’ve concerned Sting - he couldn’t imagine how much he had to save up to pay for it - but all that was on his mind was how outstanding the engagement ring was. Butterflies swam through his stomach, he felt like he was on cloud nine.

Rogue, he was going to _propose_ to Sting, wasn’t he? Did he intentionally leave to ring on the cushions? No, Rogue wouldn’t have placed the ring here on purpose, it must’ve slipped out of his pocket of something. So that means he was planning on doing it tonight, right?!

_Oh my god,_ Sting thought restlessly, did he ruin the surprise?

Suddenly he was pulled out of his anxious musings when Rogue wandered back into the room, wearing a simple black T-shirt. “Hey, so I was thinking that next weekend we should go out to the new restaurant that opened downtown. You know, that Sabertooth place you keep talking about?”

Sting was aware that Rogue was waiting for a reply, but he couldn’t muster one; still astonished at his findings. Slowly, with his mouth hanging open, he turned his head towards the tall man half-way across the room. His eyes raked his face, flushing when he realized that Rogue could see what he was holding in his grip. He grimaced, and swiped a hand down his face.

“You… weren’t supposed to find that,” he whispered, voice barely carrying throughout the room. Rogue grunted, “I didn’t even realize that it fell out of my pocket…”

“Did I ruin the surprise?”

“No, it was my fault. I was careless and it fell.” Slowly, Rogue began walking towards Sting still leaning forwards on the couch cushions. He still felt sick to his stomach- no, wait a minute, not that. It was more like he was so surprised and happy that he couldn’t speak. Words couldn’t, or wouldn’t come out of his mouth. Tenderly, Rogue lowered himself in front of Sting and lightly touched his fingertips against the ring box and his own hands.

“You weren’t supposed to find out this way. I had a whole thing planned,” he chortled. “I was in fact going to propose tonight, but then I decided to do it next week instead… When we went out on date-night. Damn, I was one-hundred percent planning on doing it tonight, but I didn’t think now would be the time. But I guess now I might as well do it.” Sting caught his eye, still dumbstruck, and Rogue smiled; not a huge smile, but brilliant in Rogue-terms. Tentatively, he carefully grabbed Sting’s wrist and pulled him up until he was standing, and then pulled the engagement ring out of his grasp.

“Sting, my beloved, not only are you my best friend, you are the love of my life. I can’t imagine not being by your side, and I don’t want to be apart from you any longer. Earlier tonight, I gave you a bouquet of green orchids. I’m assuming you have absolutely no idea on what the various types of flora stand for, so allow me to explain.” Rogue made direct eye contact with Sting, his eyes glimmering with unshed tears. Unlike Sting, who was silently balling his heart and soul out, Rogue was holding himself together.

“Green is known as the color of life; life is eternal and lasts forever. Even when we die, our lives live on as memories and stories passed through family and friends. When you give someone who is close to your heart a green orchid, you pray and wish that they have a nice, long future filled with only good things.” He stopped for a second to catch his breath, before continuing.

“Green orchids are wishes for longevity, great fortune and happy blessings. These are all the things that I want you to have because, Sting, more than anyone else I believe that _you_ deserve these things. No, this isn’t only due to the fact that I love you and want to be with you. You are genuinely the nicest person I know, the most caring and positive person I know. Sting, if it were possible, you’d hold the entire world inside your heart and wouldn’t bat an eye doing so. Even when things are difficult for yourself, you never let it get to you.”

Rogue sucks in a shaking breath, before lowering himself onto one knee. Sting let a quivering breath, tears still rolling down his cheeks, utter bliss and euphoria blooming throughout his entire body.

“What I’m trying to say is… Sting Eucliffe, I’d like to have the honor of being by your side for the rest of our lives. I want to be able to wake up besides you every morning, hold you in my arms as we fall asleep at night. I’d be so eternally grateful to stand hand-in-hand daily and just simply grow into the sappy old married couple that still says shit like you’re even prettier than the day I met you.

Sting… Will you do me the honor of being my husband?”

“Y-You idiot… It took you this long to ask? Of course I’ll marry you!”

Sting, for all that it’s worth, stuck his hand out towards Rogue and allowed him to slide the engagement ring onto his finger, still crying like a big baby but happier than he’s ever been in his whole life. He leaned down and cupped Rogue’s cheeks in his hand and planted a kiss onto his lips, slowly wrapping them around his neck as the kiss deepened.

Everything was forgotten, the world could’ve just ended with an apocalyptic explosion and the two of them wouldn’t have been none-the-wiser.

All that mattered was Sting and Rogue, Rogue and Sting.

The two of them, who had been best friends since youth, who have stood besides each other through thick and through thin. The two of them, who were now engaged.

_Hopeless lovebirds_ , as their friend Minerva would call it.

Sting, still high on utter bliss, had to pull his lips away from Rogue - only for a second, he didn’t want this moment to be ruined. The raven groaned slightly when he pulled aware, but didn’t complain further. His face was slightly red, both from his quiet tears and all the breathless kissing they just did. Rogue’s hair was a mess from Sting running his fingers through it, and his normal hair fringe was tucked behind his ear, showing off both his ruby red eyes at once.

_How was Sting so lucky to be with someone so amazingly gorgeous?_

“Before we get this show on the road,” he teased. “Can I just ask how you were able to afford this ring? It looks _SUPER_ expensive!” Sting didn’t know one’s face could turn such a brilliant shade of red, but Rogue proved him otherwise.

“I-It’s nothing m-much,” he stuttered. “Natsu was kind enough to lend me the money to buy it. I asked him for advice on proposing since he and Gray have been married for awhile. Frankly, he was way too ecstatic about the whole thing but he forced the money to buy the ring into my hand. Heh, it’s totally worth working as a bartender part time at Fairy Tail for the next couple of weeks.”

“But how much did he give you?”

“Not a lot; he knows I’m a minimalist, afterall.”

Sting smiled broadly and before he leaned in to capture Rogue’s lips, he muttered: “We gotta make sure that we properly thank Natsu…” Rogue smirked against his lips.

“Yeah, but I think we can wait until tomorrow.”

* * *

The next morning, sunlight was streaming through Rogue’s open bedroom curtains. Sting had him tucked against his bare chest, and was lazily rubbing circles around his back. His fiance was sleeping heavily, exhausted from last night's activities. Sting beamed to himself, proudly knowing that soon, they could lay together like this every night.

_Marriage_ …

Damn, Sting’s heart was still beating erratically with pure joy. Rogue mentioned last night that green orchids conveyed wishes of longevity, good fortune and happy blessings.

It seems like he was correct; of course he was. Rogue was his amazingly intelligent, soon-to-be husband. Sting would never doubt him.

Unquestionably, Sting was going to have to plan something big make up for how much Rogue has given him - snacks and sake did NOT equal the value of an engagement ring and flowers!

But for now, the golden haired man pushed all thoughts aside and cuddled closer to the slumbering man besides him. The sun was shining brightly in his eyes, but that didn’t deter his mind from his gleeful musings.

_Sting and Rogue. Rogue and Sting. Even without this ring on my hand, I will_ always _stand beside this unbelievable man._

Sting pressed a kiss onto his temple, and quietly muttered:

“ _Happy Valentine’s Day, Rogue._ ”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> So I'd like to state a couple things: This fanfic takes place in Japan, and I'm aware that gay marriage isn't legal there at the moment. However, just for the sake of this fic, I decided to ignore this fact. Hope that's alright!!
> 
> The anime that they are watching is called Dororo. I initially wasn't even planning on including what they were watching, but I couldn't help myself xD. ALSO, I am not a florist and have absolutely no prior knowledge of flowers before this fic. I hope that I accurately described green orchids! I googled the info LOL.
> 
> AND, one last thing: in the beginning of the fic, I listed some Japanese junk foods that Sting bought. Below is a small description of each one (I've researched them, so hopefully I described them accurately~)
> 
> umai bou - basically a long, thin Japanese Cheeto!
> 
> konpeitou - colorful, little spikey stars! their one of Japan's oldest types of candy and are basically pure sugar.
> 
> takoyaki - a mix between melon bread and mochi; it's shaped like a fish and is commonly filled with red bean paste! normally takoyaki is found in festivals and is a very popular street food, however, it's available in supermarkets/convenience stores as well.


End file.
